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The Other Top Cassette Deck Face Off Teac Z-7000 Luxman K-03 Beocord 9000 HK CD 491

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vinny55

Active Member
Banned
Why No mention of these High end Decks including esoteric 9000 teac 8000 as right up there with Naks Revox Tandberg? their price tag is right up there with the top guns. Are we splitting hairs again or is their sound truly inferior?
 
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Not splitting hairs with those decks. As said- if you want the best-you only have 3 choices. Nak, Tandberg, or Revox. Tandberg sounds the best, Nak is a close second, and Revox 3rd.
 
I have a Nak CR-4A since new and it was always my reference cassette deck for many years. I know it isn't the top echelon of the NAK world, but it has always acquitted itself very well both critically and practically.

However, I acquired a Luxman K-03 last year and it has "bumped" my Nak into "reserve" duty! A fantastic machine!
 
BANDWIDTH said:
I have a Nak CR-4A since new and it was always my reference cassette deck for many years. I know it isn't the top echelon of the NAK world, but it has always acquitted itself very well both critically and practically.

However, I acquired a Luxman K-03 last year and it has "bumped" my Nak into "reserve" duty! A fantastic machine!
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Nice How would you describe its sound?
 
The thing is, when you get into talking about what sounds the "best" you will still get different answers. Every deck sounds just a little different and some people will prefer the sound of one over the other. Someone may prefer a top of the line pioneer over any of the big three names that were posted. If you get into the totl in tandberg, nak, or revox or many other big names, you are going to find some very nice sounding decks. It comes down to what you want to spend and what you like as far as sound and features. It also depends on what is currently available in the market and how long you are willing to wait. Are you looking to buy one of these top end decks? Or just curious about which is "best"?
 
The Beocord is the only one I'd truly put in the elite bracket. But the Luxman, the Esoteric and the Teac mentioned are great machines in their own right.
 
braxus said:
Not splitting hairs with those decks. As said- if you want the best-you only have 3 choices. Nak, Tandberg, or Revox. Tandberg sounds the best, Nak is a close second, and Revox 3rd.
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Some years ago, we had a "shoot out" between a Beocord 9000, and this Alpine -

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Alpine 1, Beocord 9000 0
 

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vinny55 said:
Interesting what criteria did Beocord win at?
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The Beocord had "the look", and easy operation - Soundwise the Alpine was just a itsy bitsy tiny bit better - not much, but enough.

(That Alpine, and the big Luxman are the same deck, with differrent dress..)

If you had the entire B&O system - their tapedeck would be a logical choise - it sounds absolutely fantastic.
 
Luxman was late to the cassette party with the K-5a, K-10, K-12 and shorty after the LRS unit the 5K50 in the late 70s. Being late to this party they knew the competition and aimed higher. This meant that Nakamichi was going to be bested. I think they succeeded as these early Luxmans are nice machines from $495 to $2000 for these machines. Then Luxman cassette decks got better.

If it hadn't been for my TCD-330 putting click on the machine every time it went into record, I might not have gotten the 10X RTR and K-12 cassette. That K-12, what a machine. Ergonomics were fantastic, sound was better.
 
Blue Shadow said:
Luxman was late to the cassette party with the K-5a, K-10, K-12 and shorty after the LRS unit the 5K50 in the late 70s. Being late to this party they knew the competition and aimed higher. This meant that Nakamichi was going to be bested. I think they succeeded as these early Luxmans are nice machines from $495 to $2000 for these machines. Then Luxman cassette decks got better.

If it hadn't been for my TCD-330 putting click on the machine every time it went into record, I might not have gotten the 10X RTR and K-12 cassette. That K-12, what a machine. Ergonomics were fantastic, sound was better.
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So which cassette deck did luxman make that was the pinnacle of construction and sound
 
vinny55 said:
So which cassette deck did luxman make that was the pinnacle of construction and sound
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The Alpine AL-90 is the same deck as the Luxman K-05. The Luxman was slightly better though. Both are rare. I've only seen both decks on Ebay once.
 
braxus said:
The Alpine AL-90 is the same deck as the Luxman K-05. The Luxman was slightly better though. Both are rare. I've only seen both decks on Ebay once.
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i had a k-05 my freind found it by the curb kindly gave it to me lol meters were gone but were repaired ended up trading it for a marantz 4400 with wood sleeve and a k-03 with two missing knobs lol
wish would have kept it now.

alpine made things cheaper inferior with plastic parts as opposed to luxmans superior quality work. Merging with alpine was luxmans downfall
 
I'd always heard that the hk 491 was something of a giant killer, making Nak quality sound.
 
Blue Shadow said:
Yes, the K-05.
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Did you know the k-3,4,5 all had the same quality transport and weighed the same? i have a brochure with that information.
Dont think they are much different sonically. except for added features pitch control 4 and 5. 3 equalization settings for k-04 and automatic equalization for k-05.
K-03 had built in demagnetizer
 
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